Trash compactor

ABSTRACT

A trash compactor formed of a cabinet having a raised support floor upon which an open top trash bag is rested in upright position beneath a compacting ram, and a movable dolly formed of a roller supported frame arranged beneath the support floor and locked thereto by a releasable locking means. A cabinet door is hingedly connected to the frame and has a bag support means upon which the bag is mounted. The door is arranged to tilt forwardly of the cabinet for raising the bag above the floor, for thereby removing the bag, door and frame as a unit, from the cabinet. The door hinge includes a locking means which releasably locks the door in tilted position and simultaneously causes the frame locking member to unlock. A manual control unlocks the door for swinging upright, thereby permitting the frame locking member to re-engage the cabinet door.

[451 Apr.10,1973

[ TRASH COMPACTOR Floyd R. Gladwin, 14500 Eureka Road, Southgate, Mich.48192 [22] Filed: Dec. 23, 1971 [21] App1.No.: 211,299

[76] Inventor:

[52] US. Cl. ..100/100, 53/124 B, 100/218,

100/221, 100/229 A, 141/73 [51] Int. Cl. ..B30b 15/00 [58] Field ofSearch ..232/43.2; 100/100,

100/229 R, 229 A, 218, 221; 141/73, 80; 53/124 TS, 124 B [5 6]References Cited Pamphlet (4 sheets) Precision Metal Products July 1970,Copy in Group 242 Pamphlet (4 sheets), Automatic Refuse Systems June1971, Copy in Group 242 Primary Examiner-Billy J. WilhiteAttorney-Bernard J. Cantor et al.

[ 5 7 ABSTRACT A trash compactor formed of a cabinet having a raisedsupport floor upon which an open top trash bag is rested in uprightposition beneath a compacting ram, and a movable dolly formed of aroller supported frame arranged beneath the support floor and lockedthereto by a releasable locking means. A cabinet door is hingedlyconnected to the frame and has a bag support means upon which the bag ismounted. The door is arranged to tilt forwardly of the cabinet forraising the bag above the floor, for thereby removing the bag, door andframe as a unit, from the cabinet. The door hinge includes a lockingmeans which releasably locks the door in tilted position andsimultaneously causes the frame locking member to unlock. A manualcontrol unlocks the door for swinging upright, thereby permitting theframe locking member to re-engage the cabinet door.

9 Claims, 13 Drawing Figures PATEHTED 1 01975 3,726.21 1

sum 1 OF 3 INVENTOR FLOYD R. GLADWIN.

cuurlv, SETTLE, SI'DMAN a CANTOR.

PATENTEU 1 [H975 7'26 21 l SHEET 2 [IF 3 INVENTOR.

FLOYD R. GLADWIN. BY

CULLEN, SETTLE, SLOMAN 8 CANTOR.

ATT'YS PATENTED 01973 3. 7' 26 21 1 sum 3 UP 3 INV EN TOR.

FLOYD R. GLA DWIN.

CULLEN, SETTLE, SLOMAN 8 CANTO? ATT'YS.

TRASH COMPACTOR BACKGROUND OF INVENTION The invention herein relates toa trash compactor of the type shown, for example, in my earlier US. Pat.No. 3,438,32l issued Apr. 15, 1969. In such type device, a trash bag isarranged within a cabinet, beneath a compacting ram or piston, and isperiodically lowered into the bag to compact trash thrown therein. Whenthe bag is filled, it is removed and replaced. Thus, the purpose of suchdevices are to compress together into a compact form, large quantitiesof loose trash such as may be found in cafeterias, restaurants, schoolsand the like.

In such type devices, the filled bags are relatively heavy and difficultto carry to distant trash pick-up points. Thus, efforts have been madeto support the bags on movable dollys arranged within the compactorcabinet. However, these types of structures have had the disadvantage ofbeing difficult to remove from the compactor cabinet.

In addition, it has been difficult to so construct the cabinet as toabsorb the substantial loads of compacting the trash when the bags aremounted upon a removable dolly or support.

Thus, the invention herein is concerned with a compactor constructionwherein the bags are mounted upon removable dollys that can be easilyengaged within the compactor cabinet and easily removed, and stillpermit a simple, strong construction to absorb the compacting loads.

SUMMARY OF INVENTION The invention herein contemplates forming acompactor cabinet with a reinforced, load absorbing floor elevated abovethe floor upon which the cabinet is rested. A bag supporting dolly inthe form of a horizontal, roller mounted frame is arranged beneath thefloor and the compactor door is hingedly connected to the frame and hassupport means for supporting a bag upright, beneath the compactor ram,with the bottom of the bag supported by the cabinet floor. The door istiltable forwardly about a horizontal axis, thus raising the bag off thefloor, after it is filled, and easily permitting the dolly to be rolledout and away from the cabinet.

A locking means is provided which locks the frame to the floor structureand which automatically releases when the cabinet door is tilted andwhich again actuateswhen the door is raised into an upright position.The locking means which is of simple construction, is formed ofconcealed, positively locking elements, to avoid possible accidentalreleases.

The resulting structure makes it possible to quickly and easily load abag into the compactor and to remove the loaded bag with little physicaleffort, and roll the bag, upon the dolly to a disposal point where itmay be easily removed.

These and other objects and advantages of this invention will becomeapparent upon reading the following description, of which the attacheddrawings forma part.

DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the trashcompactor herein, with the bag supporting door in upright or verticalposition.

FIG. 6 is a fragmentary perspective view of a portion I of the lockingmechanism.

FIG. 7 is a view similar to FIG. 6, but showing the opposite lockingmechanism portion.

FIG. 8 is an enlarged, elevational view, of the portion of the lockingmechanism shown in FIG. 6.

FIG. 9 is a cross-sectional, side view, of the lower portion of thecompactor with the bag holder upright.

FIG. 10 is a view similar to FIG. 9, but with the door and bag holdertilted for removal of the dolly from the cabinet.

FIG. 11 is a similar view to FIG. 10, showing the dolly removed from thecabinet and the door oppositely tilted for dumping the loaded bag.

FIG. 12 is a schematic view of the linkage system for operating thelocking means.

FIG. 13 is an enlarged, cross-sectional view taken in the direction ofarrows 1313 of the manual foot pedal operating means.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION Referring to FIGS. 1-4, the compactor includes alarge, open front, compactor cabinet 10, having a reinforced supportfloor 11 which is elevated above the floor upon which the cabinet restsby either suitable support legs or preferably by means of rollers orcasters 12 mounted upon the cabinet. Compressor rams or pistons 13,arranged within hydraulic or pneumatic cylinders 14, move downwardly tocompress trash thrown into upright, open top bags 15. The unitillustrated is a two-bag model, however, one bag may be omitted and theunit narrowed to contain only one bag.

An upright or vertical tiltable door 16 is provided with U-shaped, sheetmetal, bag support frames or holders 17 having floors or base platforms18, upon which the lower portion of the bag 15 rests. The U-shaped bagsupports are secured by brackets 19 to the door so that they are spacedfrom the door a short distance whereby the upper edges 20 of each of thebags may be turned over the tops of the U-shaped support frames forholding the bags to the frames.

Instead of mounting the tiltable door upon the cabinet itself, it ismounted upon a dolly 21 which is illustrated in FIG. 5. The dollyconsists of a horizontal frame 22 supported upon rollers or casters 23and having an elongated, enlarged, front rail 24. At each end of therail, an end or pivot plate 25 is secured in the vertical plane. Suchplates are overlapped by door hinge plates 26 pivotally connected to thepivot plates by means of pins or axles 27 extending through openings 27a(see FIG. 6) in the pivot plates.

The hinge plates, which are generally rounded in shape have extensionsfastened by suitable rivets or screws 28 to the edges 29 of the door 16near the bottom of the door so that the door may be tilted upon ahorizontal axis.

The pivot plates 25 are each provided with openings 30 through whichlocking pins or bolts 31 extend.

These locking pins are each arranged within a cylindrically shapedhousing 32 fastened to the respective pivot plates and containing spring33 which provides a spring force upon the pin 31 to urge it outwardly ofthe hole or opening 30 in the pivot plate.

The opposite ends of each of the pins are narrowed and attached to a tab34 bent from and extending outwardly of U-shaped links 35 which arepivotally connected by pivot pins 36 to the rail 24.

Each of the U-shaped links are connected by an elongated rod 37 to aturn plate 38 located centrally of the rail and suitable connectedthereto by means of a pivot pin 39.

The turn plate is rotated, as indicated by the arrows in FIG. 5, bymeans of an actuating pedal lever 40 pivotally connected by a pin 41(see FIG. 13) to a bracket 42, secured to the rail 24 and having one endconnected to a foot pedal 43 and the opposite end 44 extending through aslot 45 in the rail 24 and into a hole 46 in the turn plate. Thus,stepping upon the foot pedal 43, pivots the pedal lever 40 to rotate theturn plate 39 and thereby exert a pull upon each of the rods 37. This inturn, causes the U-shaped links to rotate about their pivot pins 36.This, in turn, retracts the locking pins 31 inwardly of the opening 30in the pivot plates, as illustrated in FIG. 6. FIG. 8 illustrates thelocking pin extended through the pivot plate with arrows showing themovement of the pin in the retracting position and pivoting the U-shapelink for that purpose.

Normally, the ends of the locking pins 31 abut the respective faces oftheir hinge plates 26 and thus are prevented from extending outwardly ofthe pivot plates.

Thus, the normal position of the locking pins is the retracted positionwith the ends of the pins frictionally forced against or engaging theadjacent faces of the hinge plates connected to the door. In thisposition, the door is upright or vertical. However, when the door isgrasped at its upper edge and pulled forwardly of the cabinet so that ittilts, notches or openings 47 formed in the hinge plate align with thelocking pins 31 so that the pins are spring thrust outwardly into theirextended position and into such notches or openings. This positivelylocks the hinge plates and thus, the door, in tilted position. Thelocking pins remain in this position until such time as the pedal 43 isdepressed by foot pressure to rotate the turn plate and thus rotate theU-shaped links 35 to retract the pins 31 out of the notches or openingsin the hinge plates so that the door may be manually moved to itsupright position again.

The horizontal frame 22 is normally located beneath the support foor ofthe cabinet and locked thereto by a locking mechanism which comprises apair of elongated hook members 50 connected by pivot pins 51 to the siderails 'of the frame. The hook members have a forward hook end 52 whichengage with the lower portion of the support floor 11, namely, at theflanged or enlarged forward edge thereof. The hooks are held in thislocking engagement by spring pressure provided by an integral tab 53,depending from each hook member and connected by a suitable coil spring54 to a bracket 55 mounted upon the frame. This is illustrated in FIGS.6 and 7.

The rear ends of each of the hooks 50 are provided with bent flanges 56which are engaged by forwardly bent flanges 57 formed on the lower endsof the nonpivoted leg of each of the U-shaped links 35. Thus, when theselinks 35 pivot in a direction corresponding to the extension of thelocking pins outwardly of their hole through the pivot plate, theflanges 57 exert an upward force upon the rear ends of the hooks 50,causing them to pivot so that their hooked ends 52 move downwardly anddisengage from the support floor. Thus, it can be seen that merely bytilting the door forwardly until the locking pins engage, automaticallydisengages the hook 50 from the support floor so that the dolly may thenbe pulled outwardly of the cabinet and rolled, with the door tilted, andthe bags tilted, to a point of disposal. This upward tilting of the doorand bag clears the bottom of the bag and the platform or base 18 of theU-shaped bag support frames 17 off of the cabinet support floor.

When the bags are arranged in their upright position and trash iscompressed therein, the load of the compression is absorbed andtransmitted to the cabinet structure through the support floor 11. Thus,there is a tendency for the bag and the frame support of the bag to jamdown tightly against the support floor. By tilting the door and liftingthe bag upwardly at an angle, clearance is immediately provided forremoval of the dolly without dragging along the support floor.

Summarizing the operation of the locking mechanism, when the door is inits vertical position and the dolly is located within the cabinet, thelocking pins 31 are covered by the overlapping hinge plates 26 and thehooks 50 are upwardly extended to engage the bottom of the cabinetsupport floor for locking the dolly in place. However, immediately uponpulling the door forwardly so that it tilts, the locking pins extendoutwardly through the notches or holes in the hinge plates, thusrotating the U-shaped links 35 to in turn lift up the rear ends of thehooks and pivot them for disengagement from the support floor forpulling the dolly away from the cabinet. The user pushes the dolly backunder the support floor, stepping on the foot pedal 43, then causes thelocking pins to retract and permit the user of the equipment to swingthe door in its vertical position where the hooks, due to the springpressure, automatically engage the support floor and lock the dolly inplace again.

For ease of dumping the loaded bags out of the bag supporting frames,the foot pedal may be pressed for retracting the locking pins and thedoor swung in the opposite direction so as to tilt the bag holdersdownwardly, as shown in FIG. 11. In. this position, the bags may beeasily pulled out and removed.

Having fully described an operative embodiment of this invention, I nowclaim.

1. A trash compactor comprising:

a cabinet having a support floor raised a short distance above theground level upon which the cabinet is supported;

a horizontally arranged frame located beneath said support floor androller means supporting said frame for movement of the frame away fromthe support floor and the cabinet;

a cabinet door pivotally connected at its lower end to said frame upon ahorizontal axis, said door normally extending a distance approximatelyvertically upwardly of and closing the cabinet for a distance above saidsupport floor;

a bag support means upon said door for removably holding an open trashbag upright within the cabinet with the closed bottom of the bagsupported upon said support floor for thereby supporting the weight of atrash containing bag upon said floor;

and releasable locking means securing the frame in its position beneaththe support floor;

wherein said cabinet door may be tilted outwardly of the cabinet, thustiltably raising the bag away from the support floor and said door andits attached frame may be moved away from the cabinet for removal of thebag, after it is-filled, from the bag support means.

2. A compactor as defined in claim 1, and said bag support meansincluding a platform, secured to said door, upon which the bag bottom isrested, with the platform resting upon the support floor when the dooris upright for supporting the bag bottom upon the support floor;

and the platform tilting upwardly away from the support floor when thedoor is tilted.

3. A compactor as defined in claim 1, and said door being pivotallyconnected to said frame by means of a vertically arranged pivot platesecured to the frame and overlapping and pivotally connected to a hingeplate fixedly secured to a vertical side edge of the door;

and a spring biased, horizontally slidable locking pin extending throughand opening in said pivot plate and normally abutting against theoverlapped face of the hinge plate;

an opening formed in said hinge plate and positioned to receive saidlocking pin when the door is tilted relative to the cabinet to therebyrotate the hinge plate about its pivotal connection to the pivot plate;

and said releasable locking means including a locking member mountedupon the frame and movable to engage against said support floor;

and a linkage interconnecting the locking pin and the locking member formoving and holding the locking member out of engagement with saidsupport floor when the locking pin extends through said hinge plateopening;

and manually operable means for retracting the locking pin from thehinge plate opening.

4. A compactor as defined in claim 3, and said locking member comprisinga hook pivotally connected to said frame for swinging upwardly forengaging a portion of the bottom of the support floor, and said linkageoperating to permit said hook to swing downwardly out of engagement withsaid floor when the locking pin enters the hinge plate opening.

5. A device as defined in claim 4, and including a spring normallyholding the hook in its upwardly swung, floor engaging position.

6. A compactor as defined in claim 4, and said linkage including a linkpivotally connected to the frame at one end and connected to the pin atits opposite end, with a lever connected to said opposite end forpivoting the link for retracting the pin from the hinge plate opening,and said link having a portion engaging the hook and holding itdownwardly out of engagement with said support floor when the link ispivoted.

7. In a cabinet having an elevated, horizontal support floor arranged ashort distance above the support for the cabinet, and a cabinet door forclosing a portion of the cabinet above the support floor, theimprovement comprising:

a horizontally arranged frame movably fitted beneath said support floor;

and hinge means connecting the door hingedly to the frame and forreleasably locking the frame and door to the cabinet, said hinge meansincluding a flat plate fastened to the frame and a hinge plate fixedlyfastened to the door, with the two plates being overlapped and pivotallyconnected by a pivot pin;

a locking pin extending through the frame plate and normally engagingthe overlapping hinge plate face and thus being in a retracted position,and an opening formed in the hinge plate for receiving the locking pinin a pin-extended position when the door, with the plate, is swung openrelative to the cabinet;

a locking member fastened to the frame and normally engaging the cabinetwhen the locking pin is retracted;

and link means interconnecting the locking pin and locking member formoving the locking means into a cabinet disengaged position when thelocking pin is extended, whereby the frame with the open door may beremoved from the cabinet as a unit;

and manually operable means for manually retracting the locking pin fromthe hinge plate opening.

8. A cabinet as defined in claim 7, and said locking member including ahook pivotally connected to said frame for swinging into engagement withan adjacent portion of the bottom of said support floor when the lockingpin is in its retracted position and for swinging out of engagement withsaid support floor when the locking pin is in its extended position.

9. A cabinet as defined in claim 8, and said link means including a linkpivotally connected to the frame at one end and connected to the lockingpin at its opposite end;

and said manually operable means including a lever connected to saidopposite end of the link for pivoting the link and thereby retractingthe pin from the hinge plate opening, and said link having a portionengaging the hook and holding it out of engagement with the supportfloor when the link is pivoted to correspond to the locking pin extendedposition.

e a a:

1. A trash compactor comprising: a cabinet having a support floor raiseda short distance above the ground level upon which the cabinet issupported; a horizontally arranged frame located beneath said supportfloor and roller means supporting said frame for movement of the frameaway from the support floor and the cabinet; a cabinet door pivotallyconnected at its lower end to said frame upon a horizontal axis, saiddoor normally extending a distance approximately vertically upwardly ofand closing the cabinet for a distance above said support floor; a bagsupport means upon said door for removably holding an open trash bagupright within the cabinet with the closed bottom of the bag supportedupon said support floor for thereby supporting the weight of a trashcontaining bag upon said floor; and releasable locking means securingthe frame in its position beneath the support floor; wherein saidcabinet door may be tilted outwardly of the cabinet, thus tiltablyraising the bag away from the support floor and said door and itsattached frame may be moved away from the cabinet for removal of thebag, after it is filled, from the bag support means.
 2. A compactor asdefined in claim 1, and said bag support means including a platform,secured to said door, upon which the bag bottom is rested, with theplatform resting upon the support floor when the door is upright forsupporting the bag bottom upon the support floor; and the platformtilting upwardly away from the support floor when the door is tilted. 3.A compactor as defined in claim 1, and said door being pivotallyconnected to said frame by means of a vertically arranged pivot platesecured to the frame and overlapping and pivotally connected to a hingeplate fixedly secured to a vertical side edge of the door; and a springbiased, horizontally slidable locking pin extending through and openingin said pivot plate and normally abutting against the overlapped face ofthe hinge plate; an opening formed in said hinge pLate and positioned toreceive said locking pin when the door is tilted relative to the cabinetto thereby rotate the hinge plate about its pivotal connection to thepivot plate; and said releasable locking means including a lockingmember mounted upon the frame and movable to engage against said supportfloor; and a linkage interconnecting the locking pin and the lockingmember for moving and holding the locking member out of engagement withsaid support floor when the locking pin extends through said hinge plateopening; and manually operable means for retracting the locking pin fromthe hinge plate opening.
 4. A compactor as defined in claim 3, and saidlocking member comprising a hook pivotally connected to said frame forswinging upwardly for engaging a portion of the bottom of the supportfloor, and said linkage operating to permit said hook to swingdownwardly out of engagement with said floor when the locking pin entersthe hinge plate opening.
 5. A device as defined in claim 4, andincluding a spring normally holding the hook in its upwardly swung,floor engaging position.
 6. A compactor as defined in claim 4, and saidlinkage including a link pivotally connected to the frame at one end andconnected to the pin at its opposite end, with a lever connected to saidopposite end for pivoting the link for retracting the pin from the hingeplate opening, and said link having a portion engaging the hook andholding it downwardly out of engagement with said support floor when thelink is pivoted.
 7. In a cabinet having an elevated, horizontal supportfloor arranged a short distance above the support for the cabinet, and acabinet door for closing a portion of the cabinet above the supportfloor, the improvement comprising: a horizontally arranged frame movablyfitted beneath said support floor; and hinge means connecting the doorhingedly to the frame and for releasably locking the frame and door tothe cabinet, said hinge means including a flat plate fastened to theframe and a hinge plate fixedly fastened to the door, with the twoplates being overlapped and pivotally connected by a pivot pin; alocking pin extending through the frame plate and normally engaging theoverlapping hinge plate face and thus being in a retracted position, andan opening formed in the hinge plate for receiving the locking pin in apin-extended position when the door, with the plate, is swung openrelative to the cabinet; a locking member fastened to the frame andnormally engaging the cabinet when the locking pin is retracted; andlink means interconnecting the locking pin and locking member for movingthe locking means into a cabinet disengaged position when the lockingpin is extended, whereby the frame with the open door may be removedfrom the cabinet as a unit; and manually operable means for manuallyretracting the locking pin from the hinge plate opening.
 8. A cabinet asdefined in claim 7, and said locking member including a hook pivotallyconnected to said frame for swinging into engagement with an adjacentportion of the bottom of said support floor when the locking pin is inits retracted position and for swinging out of engagement with saidsupport floor when the locking pin is in its extended position.
 9. Acabinet as defined in claim 8, and said link means including a linkpivotally connected to the frame at one end and connected to the lockingpin at its opposite end; and said manually operable means including alever connected to said opposite end of the link for pivoting the linkand thereby retracting the pin from the hinge plate opening, and saidlink having a portion engaging the hook and holding it out of engagementwith the support floor when the link is pivoted to correspond to thelocking pin extended position.